BioAmber isn't as flashy or sexy as some other industrial biotech companies, but it has a compelling investment argument. Biosuccinic acid has gained tremendous popularity as a building block molecule to replace petroleum-based succinic acid in the industrial manufacturing of polymers (1,4 BDO, THF, GBL, etc), coatings, personal care ingredients, and more -- all well-established markets. Companies such as BASF (the world's largest chemical company), Purac, BioAmber, and multiple chemical manufacturers are eyeing the molecule for greening their supply chains. The trend is certainly BioAmber's friend, as many in the industry have partnered with the company for offtake agreements and/or signed take-or-pay contracts for a combined 210,000+ MT of production (not all biosuccinic acid).

The biosuccinic acid platform of BioAmber utilizes E. coli bacteria and is protected by intellectual property that expires between 2015 and 2021 in varying international jurisdictions. Additional intellectual property covering the production of organic acids from engineered yeast (licensed from industrial biotech powerhouse Cargill) expires between 2019 and 2026 and a separate grouping that expires between 2031 and 2033. Not bad.

BioAmber has plenty of demand for capacity coming online soon (30,000+ MT of biosuccinic acid at Sarnia, Ontario) and in the near future (several facilities with 100,000+ MT capacity of various molecules planned in next decade). That will ensure growth, early revenue and profits, and secure a leadership position in the markets. Additionally, BioAmber has been extremely smart with financing expansion to commercial scale (many non-dilutive grants, partnership funding, low-interest loans), which is a rarity for the pioneers of the industrial biotech industry.

One big problem is that companies began eyeing a bioadvantaged (more efficient to produce with a biocatalyst than via petrochemicals/thermocatalysts) production route for succinic acid before the glut of shale gas and oil hit the international markets. While still bioadvantaged, prices for succinic acid have been slammed by cheap production from China. I still think the market will expand along with the expansion in production, and there's always the "green premium/advantage" that will help domestic producers.

There's a lot to cover, but I'll circle back around in a future comment to this.